What Lurks in the Shadows
by Sabaku Ookami
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto, born without the ability to use chakra was an outcast in Konoha and being the Hokage's son without chakra was the ultimate embarrassment to Minato. For twelve years Naruto lived with being ridiculed by everyone but his mother and one of his sisters, then he left the village to make his own path...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright... to be one hundred percent honest, my motivation for fanfics has flat-lined at the moment. As you can guess, updates will be moving at a crawl but eventually I'll get them out. Ncpfan helped with quite a lot in the story, this would probably be a horrible story if not for him.

Now enjoy the new story.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything within this story.

Pairing: Narutox? (eh... you'll figure out what the pairing is, who's in it and such as you read)

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto was already quite familiar with the workings of Gatou and the Gatou Corporation, knowing that the conglomerate muscled their way in, bought out the island, stripped the small country's inhabitants of their prosperity, and then their spirits, and now ruled Wave Country with an iron fist. Naruto wasn't particularly interested in the company at the present time; he had no immediate need to bother with them, nor did he ever receive any kind of request from Wave's Daimyo to deal with Gatou. If the people here didn't like it, they could easily rise up and fix the problem in his opinion.

Naruto needed a skilled builder who was used to building around water, and apparently Tazuna, the old fart that lived here was the best. It was Naruto's need for top-notch building services and Tazuna's reputation was enough to bring Naruto all the way out here, not only to Wave Country, but also directly to his home, which apparently was situated a good mile or more out of town near the only forest on the island.

Having found the house that matched the description of Tazuna's home, Naruto approached the front door. As he got closer, he realized that the door to the house was open, and the smell of death permeated the air, originating from inside the house. Frowning with puzzled surprise, Naruto quickly pushed open the door and looked around, adopting a defensive stance so as not to be caught off-guard.

Surveying the room, he saw the dead bodies of two men, ronin from the look of them. He noticed that they had bled out from their necks, their jugular veins effectively severed. He carefully made his way further into the house, keeping his guard up and an eye out for any hostiles. He stepped over the bodies as he continued. Entering the dining room, he found two more bodies, another apparent ronin…and a young boy no older than nine.

Looking around even further, he saw a dark haired woman sitting on the floor against the wall, apparently hugging herself and rocking herself back and forth. She was covered in blood, sobbing silently, the sniffles that came from her being the only sounds coming from her. Naruto tapped his foot on the ground, she immediately looked up at him and attacked him without any warning.

He dodged the first wild slash from the blood-coated kitchen knife that she had apparently used to kill the three ronin. Before she could attack a second time, he grabbed her wrist, and quickly but gently restrained her. Once she stopped struggling, he gently opened the hand that was holding the knife and took it from her grip and tossing it aside.

"It's alright…" he gently admonished her, "…I'm not here to hurt you. Please, just relax. It's okay, you're safe now."

Upon hearing his soothing words, her sobs intensified and grew louder. She went limp in his grip, and he picked her up into a bridal carry, wanting to get her out of the blood-filled house and away from the environment of death that the home had become. Stepping outside into the front yard, he set the young woman down on the grass outside.

Trying to collect his thoughts and figure out what to do from here, his ear caught what sounded like a mumble coming from the distraught woman. He knelt down to listen closer, "-erved to die. They all deserved to die..." muttered the woman a cold, numb tone. She'd gone back to hugging and rocking herself, fighting to maintain some semblance of composure. He interrupted her mumblings by placing his hands over her own and waiting for her to look at him.

He now knew what happened – this had been the first time this woman had even killed someone. Having remembered several of the first-kill's of his subordinate's, he knew that she would need to be talked down and helped through it. As she brought her tear-filled gaze up to meet his, he offered her a sad, understanding smile.

"I know what you're feeling right now…" he began, causing her eyes to widen in reaction, "…and in spite of what you feel, you're not a monster."

She began to convulse as further sobs started to silently make their way up from her throat. Naruto continued, "That little boy…he was your son, wasn't he?"

She nodded, causing Naruto to frown in sympathy, "And it was those men who killed him?"

She nodded once more, causing Naruto to bring his hands from her hands to her shoulders, "Then they did deserve to die. You're not a monster for wanting to kill the men who killed your boy. If anything, you meted out justice here today…" further sobs made their way up from the poor woman's diaphragm, "…and who knows how many lives you may have saved by ending theirs, here."

"It…it d-doesn't h-h-help…" he managed to stutter out through her sobs.

"I know," Naruto gently reassured her, "And for what it's worth, I'm truly sorry. Nobody who simply lives out their life and minds their own business deserves to have to live with what you had to do here. Listen…if you want, I'll be here in this area for at least a little while. If you need to talk more…"

Naruto immediately stopped speaking, snapping his arm up to catching a shinobi's kunai that shot out of him from the trees. He just as quickly threw it back in the direction it came from. A high-pitched cry of pain was heard, and a couple seconds later, a red-haired girl who appeared to be in her early teens fell out of the tree with the kunai buried in her arm.

"Kanu?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock upon seeing one of his younger sisters.

"Huh?" the girl responded, looking in the direction of the voice, her eyes going wide as she recognized the voice's owner.

"You're lucky I didn't feel like throwing that kunai in your eye socket, Kanu-chan," Naruto warned her firmly. Although, while he might have been annoyed with such a greeting, he was also glad to be greeted by the one who _didn't _hate his guts and belittle him about his chakra problem.

"Onii-chan!" shouted Kanu, before yanking out the kunai and rushing over at him, ignoring the open wound on her arm. When she reached him, she jumped onto him, hugging him tightly, when he returned the hug, she nuzzled into him. After several minutes she finally let go of him before looking over at Naruto's companion.

"What happened to Tsunami-chan?" asked the girl, looking at the dark haired woman curiously.

"You know this woman?" Naruto asked with mild surprise. Kanu nodded with a grin.

"Ronin attacked the house," answered Naruto, adopting a serious posture, "From what I can ascertain, the three ronin took her boy hostage to gain leverage over her. Something happened, the boy died and she…snapped and killed them all with a kitchen knife," he added not knowing a better word for it.

He turned back to his sister and regarded her with suspicious curiosity, "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, me and my squad were here on a mission to protect her father, Tazuna!" she exclaimed, her grin not leaving her face.

"Were?" asked Naruto, not missing the past tense.

"Yeah, my squad died…" answered the redhead cheerfully, "…and so did Tazuna. I was just coming back for my stuff. I'll be right back, Onii-chan!"

His face immediately took on an irritated frown, "Great, now that she's just told me Tazuna's dead, I'll have to find some amateur to hire…wonderful."

Naruto watched as she skipped to the house and shrugged, "She's still just as crazy if not even crazier than before…" he sighed just before his face softened into an involuntary smile, "…but I love her just the same."

To everyone, Kanu looked insane, though to be fair, they would be correct in that assumption. The girl was not completely _there,_ and by all rights, she shouldn't ever have been made a ninja due to her mental health, but being the daughter of a Kage had its…advantages.

The more he thought about what he just saw of his sister, the more concerned he became. He hadn't seen her since he left Konoha five years ago. Kanu was definitely a little unbalanced, then, but he found himself truly disturbed, not only at her cheerfulness despite losing her entire squad, but also at her reaction towards him. Her embrace had the affectionate quality of a girlfriend or a lover, not a sibling…and there also seemed to be a sense of desperation behind it. Granted, she had always had a big brother complex, but at seven years old, that was hardly uncommon. To see her now, though, and to get the impression that her feelings for him had only grown in his absence…he could only surmise that sometime between when he left and now, something terrible had happened to her that caused her mind to fracture even further.

Naruto knew that Kanu wasn't stupid; if anything, she was as much of a genius as Naruto himself was! It was their other sister, her twin Kyoko, who had certain deficiencies in the mental capacity department. Naruto was aware that Kanu knew she had issues. He also knew that he was the only person she'd even consider talking to about them. But whenever he asked if anything was wrong after she had an episode, she would cleverly dodge the question. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he never pressed the issue, but always hoped that she would come to him whenever she was ready. He also let her know that any time she wanted to, he would drop whatever he was doing and give her his undivided attention. And even now, five years since he'd last seen her, if she needed his attention, it was hers, end of story. But now, his concern was such that he would press the issue; he needed to know what had happened to his beloved little "Nunu-chan"!

Putting his thoughts aside for now, he looked back over at Tsunami. She was still sobbing quietly to herself in shock over what had happened.

"Tsunami-san?" Naruto asked gently, causing her to look towards him once more, "If you want, when I leave this place, you can come with me. In the meantime, I'll bring you to a place where you can mourn and take your time dealing with this. Would that be alright?"

"That's…fine," said the young woman, staring off into space. Naruto wondered if she even heard what he said or if she just responded automatically. He'd be sure to talk to her more later, once she had the chance to come to terms with the day's events. He then heard two sets of hurried footsteps and saw two of his subordinates had finally caught up to him.

"You guys are getting soft," Naruto admonished them, surprised that they took so long to catch up with him, "You're going to double your training when we return."

"Yes sir. Sorry sir," replied the two slightly out of breath.

Naruto looked back over at the house and wondered what was taking Kanu so long. He turned to his men and ordered them, "Stay here with Tsunami-san for a moment."

As they saluted in response, he headed back inside the house. Upon entering, he began to call out, "Nunu-chan, where are you?"

He took a step back before the redhead appeared in front of him, her hands covered in blood.

He asked, "What were you doing?"

"Oh, one of the ronin was still a bit alive. I made it so he didn't move again," she said smiling at him. As he was just about to ask, she stopped him short, "You don't want to know, Onii-chan."

Naruto seemed to contemplate for a few moments before sighing and nodding in agreement with the girl. He probably didn't want to know, but once he was curious he had to find out, "Probably not, but I'm still going to have a look."

He then asked her calmly, "Did you get your stuff?"

"Yes," replied Kanu immediately, beaming happily.

"So you're ready to go back to Konoha and report about your mission?"

"Nope!" Kanu responded just as exuberantly and cheerfully, "Now that you're here, I'm going with you, and I'm never going back to Konoha again! I wasn't gonna go back to Konoha anyway!"

"Wait a minute…what?" Naruto asked in confusion, shaking his head in surprise.

"That's right! Not going back there!"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, sighing. Deciding that there was too much to do right now, he chose to put this aside for now, "Okay, we'll talk about this later. For now, can you head outside and wait for me?"

Kanu nodded with a grin, to which Naruto smiled and patted her on the head, "That's my girl. Now clean yourself up and don't attack the two wearing the same clothing as me, okay?" he admonished her as he had a good idea that since she had no idea who they were, she likely would attack them.

"Hai, Onii-chan," replied Kanu, hugging him in the same manner she did earlier, then running outside like a little kid.

He then turned his attention to the room she had just left when she appeared before him with her hands covered in gore. He had seen a lot of weird, bloody and gruesome things in the last two years, so he figured that whatever she might have done, it likely wouldn't bother him any. He walked to the dining room area…and realized he was wrong.

He grimaced upon seeing the grotesque results of Kanu's actions. The innards of the ronin were spread out all over the room! He honestly didn't know where he started and where he stopped!

"Man, she wasn't kidding when she said I didn't want to know…" he mused aloud before saying, "…maybe I should teach her not to do this."

He spotted the boy's body lying on the floor, untouched, and gave silent thanks for small blessings, glad that Kanu had left that body alone.

"Burying her son and father might make things a little easier for Tsunami…and I don't feel like leaving the kid's body in this mess," he added before walking over, picking up the boy's body and heading outside.

XxxxxX

Naruto walked outside and placed the boy's body gently on the ground.

He addressed his subordinates, "The man I was looking for is dead, so we'll be returning home, but first I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Naruto proceeded to attach the radio in the collar of his shirt to his neck and ear. Turning to his men once more, he ordered, "One of you go to the bridge and find the young woman's father, bring his body here, and bury both her son and her father. _I_ will dispatch Gatou and deal with his company."

He looked over at Kanu, "Kanu, you stay with them. You can trust them, got it?" he questioned wondering if she would even listen to him.

Kanu pouted but nodded her head, "I got it... Onii-chan is mean," she added huffing to the side and looking away from him.

Naruto surprised her when he appeared right in front of her with a smile and kissed her on the nose, "Onii-chan might be mean, but he still loves his little Nunu-chan, and he'll do anything for her. Okay?"

Kanu's pout softened a little as she offered, "Well…maybe Onii-chan isn't _so_ mean…"

Naruto nodded at her before turning to his men and nodding at them.

"Good hunting, sir," one of them said while the other was already heading off to find the bridge builder's body. When Kanu looked back to watch him leave, he was already gone. She was surprised; he didn't make the slightest sound! Even the ANBU in Konoha made the slightest sound that she could easily hear.

'_Just how did you get so good at stealth, Onii-chan?_' she mused to herself before adopting a cheerful smile once more and seating herself to await her big brother's return.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto stood in front of the Gatou Corporation's Headquarters in the country, which wasn't too hard to find. It was the best-kept and most well-guarded building he'd seen since entering this pitiful little nation, and he knew every important building in every country. After all, he hadn't built the most secretive and deadly organization within the elemental nations by being blind, deaf and dumb…and his organization was so well-hidden that it was thought to be a myth used to scare children by the populace as a whole.

"Hey, di-" one of the guard's outside was cut off as a short and thin throwing knife entered his throat.

"An eye for an eye…" stated Naruto coldly, before he threw another knife catching a closer ronin in the side of the head, "…a tooth for a tooth…" he added as he started walking towards the building, three ronin charged him but he continued on his path toward the building, "…and an evil for an evil," he finished as he dodged the first two ronin's attacks before slitting open their jugular veins with a quick movement of his hand going past their defenses. He then kicked the third ronin in the groin, grabbed the man's own blade and shoved it into his skull. Naruto continued into the building like he was going for a walk through a park; if these hired thugs were all as horrible the ones he just killed, it was going to be a _very_ easy and relaxing day.

XxxxxX

Naruto yawned as he opened the door to Gatou's personal office. The people the shipping magnate had hired lacked any real training to be of any threat. It got so boring that he just chose to finish quickly and hunted down every last thug in the building. He made a lot of interesting discoveries along the way as well.

"Who are you?!" shouted a short, middle-aged man in an expensive suit sitting behind his desk angrily, "I'm not sure how you got here but my guards will-"

"Your guards are dead," stated Naruto calmly as he walked into the office, followed by several scantily-clad women, each holding a weapon of some kind.

"As for who I am, I'm the leader of the Black Shields and these young ladies would _love_ to have some private time with you," he added before turning on his heel, "Do whatever you want to him. When you're finished, I'll be waiting in the hall," he said nonchalantly as he walked out of the room.

He stood outside the room for almost ten minutes, listening to Gatou's incessant brutal screaming, which suddenly went silent before the sound of women cheering replaced the screams. One of the women came out in the hallway, "We're done and…" she smiled and winked at Naruto, "…thank you so much for letting us have our revenge," she said kindly.

Naruto nodded with a smile of his own and walked into the room just across the hall from Gatou's office, where several captive women had been confined and were apparently waiting for Gatou and his goons to have their way with them.

He waited for a few minutes, allowing the captives to calm themselves before he spoke, "I'll be having several of my subordinates take over this building for my organization's use. Those of you who have any family you want to return to, let my people know when they arrive and it'll be arranged for you to return home," said Naruto seriously as he looked at them in his _leader __demeanor_, "For those of you who don't have any family or a home to return to,we'll be happy to escort you to any country and city of your choosing. You'll be given enough money to restart your life, or if anyone desires, you can work in my organization."

"But…none of us can use chakra. We're civilians," said one woman, causing the others to nod in agreement as most, if not all, military-like groups were trained as ninja.

Naruto sighed, though he had a small smile and replied, "I do not have chakra, and we aren't shinobi," they all looked at him confused, but very curious, "My body does not create chakra, I only have enough chakra that requires me to live and most of the people in the Black Shields do not use chakra either. I would love to explain the ins and outs, but I don't wish to reveal information that could harm my organization if any of you decide to tell others about meeting me. You have until my subordinates arrive to make your decision and if anything happens with them, tell them to give you a radio, and then contact me. I've got to go now, so I'll probably see all of you later," he finished politely before walking out of the room to head back to Kanu, Tsunami and his guards.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto arrived back at Tsunami's house, he found the bodies of the three ronin lying outside. To Naruto's surprise, the one who was _spread_ out was put together again. Either his sister or his guards decided to put all the strewn pieces together again; this time, he really didn't want to ask or find out, and for once, he was not about to indulge his curiosity.

He entered the house and saw a very familiar woman in the room aside from those he expected. Yuria was a young woman in her mid-twenties. She had fair skin, short, dark brown hair that was almost but not quite black, with some of her bangs falling between her eyes and to the left of her left eye. She had a lazy smile on her face and green eyes. She was of average height, but was quite fit – muscular, but not to the degree that it took away her femininity. She was wearing simple, skin-tight black pants and a black shirt with only a knife strapped to her thigh.

Yuria was an Enforcer, one of his elite. She was also his bodyguard, his oldest associate, having met him just a week he'd made his way out of Konoha. She was also his closest friend... with benefits, though unbeknownst to Naruto, she wanted more than that.

Yuria simply gave him an I-L-Y sign before returning to supervise the other two, who were cleaning up the house, while he gave a small wave and a smile back to her. Now he understood why the bodies were outside; she liked a well-kept base of operations. Outside was too vulnerable and staying around dead bodies for any length of time was not only gross, but also a bit of a health concern.

"Where's Tsunami and my imouto?" asked Naruto curiously, not seeing either of them in the living/dining room area.

Yuria answered calmly, "The little redhead was going to make the woman end up killing her, so I put them in separate rooms before I had to beat some sense into the girl," Naruto nodded in a deadpan, not in the least surprised, while Yuria continued, "Upstairs, little red is on the right, and the woman is on the left, first door on either side."

He walked up the stairs and entered the first room on the left, deciding to check on Tsunami. He opened the door quietly and looked inside. Seeing her fast asleep on the bed, he closed the door quietly in order to keep from disturbing her and then stared at the door to the room where his sister was.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do about Kanu. He held the kinder of his younger sisters in a special place in his heart; a place that was hers, and hers alone. On the one hand, it was wonderful to see her again, but on the other, the bastard that sired them would surely exhaust any and all possible resources in an attempt to get her back. To further complicate things, Kyoko could sense Kanu if she was within a certain distance of her due to both of them having the Kyuubi's split chakra stored into them, so even though she didn't want to go back to Konoha, she would likely be found before too long anyway and taken back forcibly if need be. He also knew that if he took her in, it would put both of them in danger unless he could devise a way to nullify Kyoko's ability to sense the other half of Kyuubi's chakra.

Seeing her now, though, he just didn't have the heart to send her back to Konoha, or to send her away. That lovely, sweet face…those beautiful violet-blue eyes…and that shiny, vibrant red hair – she had inherited all of the physical traits of her mother. Kami, how he loved both of them. Thoughts of them always brought out this overwhelming compulsion to protect them from all harm and smother them with as much love as he could. Even though Kanu was mentally and emotionally damaged, she always found a way to smile at him, and to bring his smile out in return.

He knew that the note he left her and their mother must have hurt them deeply. He regretted any pain that he had caused the two most precious women in his life, and he had expressed as much in his letter to them, but he knew that they also understood that he had done what he had to do – more for his own survival than anything else. He'd promised them in his letter that he would come back for them, and that he'd one day take them to a world that was far, far removed from the pain that their current lives and existences brought them – a world that he would create himself. So far, he felt like he was making pretty good on that promise.

Upon seeing Kanu now, he could tell even more clearly that his leaving had affected her more than he had realized; something truly traumatic _had_ happened to her while he'd been gone – either that, or something that had already been happening to her had gotten worse. It always frustrated and worried him that she would never talk to him about it. He loved Kanu very, very much, and he only wanted to help if he could. But this time, there had been a glint in her eye – almost as though she saw a golden opportunity right now. Maybe it wasn't that she wouldn't talk to him while they were in Konoha, but she simply _couldn't._

Naruto sighed quietly before opening the door to the room and stepping inside, he saw the cheerful redhead lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling with a bored expression on her face.

"Nunu-chan," he said softly, so as not to startle her, she sat up immediately and stared at him. Her surprise quickly gave way to ecstatic joy as she grinned, got up quickly and hugged him once more.

Naruto smiled and hugged her back before asking, "So, since you don't want to go back to Konoha, what do you plan to do?"

Kanu looked at him with her same cheery smile and exclaimed exuberantly, "What do you mean? I'm staying with you, now!"

Naruto put his finger to his lips and pointed at Tsunami's bedroom door, indicating that she needed to be quiet. Kanu's mouth shaped into a silent "OH!" before she closed it and smiled again, this time with her finger to her own lips.

Naruto smiled warmly at her in response, "Well, that's not something I would normally object to, but…"

"No 'buts', Aniki," she interrupted, still smiling wide, but with toned-down exuberance this time, "I'm staying with you, and we're going to be happy just like you promised! We're going to get Kaa-chan later and she'll be happy with us, too!" she finished with a nod as though that was the final word on the matter.

"It's not that simple…" he began, only to be interrupted by Kanu's enthusiastic proclamations.

"And every day we spend together is going to be a joy…" she began as she stood up and took his hand, leading him to the bed, continuing her incessant blabber all the while, "…and you'll never regret your decision to keep me with you, because we're going to have so much fun we won't know what to do with it all, and…and…"

Naruto frowned with concern as he studied her while she was spouting all of this. It was as clear as day to him now that something was very, very wrong. Behind her smile, her eyes had become misty again, coupled with a glint of…fear? Kanu had never been scared of anything or anyone as far as he could remember, but…something about being separated from him absolutely terrified her.

During all of this, she still hadn't stopped talking, "…and…" she sat down on the bed, pulling him down to sit next to her. Her posture immediately turned from exuberant to sultry, even sexual, though her voice had lost none of its exuberance as she straddled his lap and started rubbing his chest and his face, and strumming her fingers through his hair, all the while leaning in close to him as she continued, "…and I'll make you so happy that you'll forget all your troubles, and all the pain that you felt back home. And…and…"

Naruto's concern began to grow into alarm as he looked into her eyes once again. This lovely creature, this beautiful pure-spirited beauty, his precious little sister, could never hide anything from him. He could see it all in her eyes and on her face: the excitement at a better future, the lust and desire for him, the fear that he'd noticed earlier, and…anxious expectation and hope for a positive answer that would be dashed if it wasn't the answer she wanted…no, needed…to hear. He realized that she was pleading with him!

He cut Kanu off from what was quickly becoming an almost mindless rant by bringing a gentle hand up to her face and resting it against her cheek. She gasped and stopped speaking to look him directly in the eyes as she felt that wonderful touch she'd been longing for – the touch of the only man who made her feel truly loved and truly safe. Looking into his eyes and seeing his concern caused the tears that she'd been trying to hold back to finally fall.

"Nunu-chan," he began softly, "Are you ready to really talk to me, now?"

Her smile fell, her lips began to quiver, and her voice began to break, "Naruto-kun…" she began, causing his eyebrows to shoot up, "…please don't let me be taken back there," and with that, she threw her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin in the crook of his neck, sobbing silently.

Naruto wrapped his arms around his sister's body, rubbing her back in a comforting way. She never used his name! She always called him "Aniki" or "Onii-chan", or even affectionate pet names that were wildly inappropriate for a sister to use when referring to her brother. The fact that she was using his name right now meant that she needed him to listen to her and consider this decision with a care that he'd never exercised before.

"Kanu-hime," he used a suffix that she'd always longed to hear from him, knowing that it would get her attention and tell her that she was the only thing that mattered to him at the moment, "What's been happening to you? What weren't you willing to tell me when I still lived in Konoha, and why?"

Her posture suddenly changed. Her sobbing stopped suddenly as she grew calm. She pulled back slowly, her hands never leaving his neck. Looking him in the eye, it was as though Naruto was looking at a completely different person. Strangely enough, Kanu's current expression reminded him of their mother.

She began, in a voice that sounded eerily similar to their mother, "Kanu-chan can't tell you what's been going on; it's too painful for her."

Naruto raised an intrigued eyebrow at this statement. "Kanu" picked up on it and replied with an understanding smile, "I guess this must seem like a bit of a surprise to you, huh, Naru-kun?"

"Kaa-san?" Naruto asked, surprised yet confused.

"In a manner of speaking."

"So then…who exactly are you, and how did you come to be?"

"Kanu" smiled approvingly and kissed Naruto on the cheek just at the corner of his mouth, "Very perceptive, Naru-kun. My name is Kushina, just like your mother. I'm actually modeled after her, so you'll notice a lot of similarities. As you've concluded, I am an alternate personality within Kanu's subconscious, and my role is to protect and comfort Kanu as best I can given certain…events."

"What events? And why isn't our mother doing _your_ job?"

Kushina's smile fell as she closed her eyes and brought one of her hands to Naruto's face, "Your mother doesn't know, Naru-kun. Kanu can't tell her because to do so would put both her life and your life in danger."

Kushina took a deep breath and began anew, "You know how Minato loves to drink?"

Naruto nodded.

"You know how much I look like our mother?"

Again, Naruto nodded.

"Well…" Kushina began nervously, "…when he's had too much to drink, he can't tell me and our mother apart…and he gets very aggressive and randy when he's drunk."

Naruto's eyes went wide, his jaw dropped, "Please tell me he didn't…" he trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

Kushina shed a single tear, though her voice remained even, "He did. And that's how I came to be. Kanu knew that Minato should only be doing things like that with her mother, and so I was born…to be the mother that her father should have been doing those things with. I protect her from the trauma that her father's molestation would otherwise do to her. And the more it happened to her, the more I grew into my own. I would come out when he would…commit the act…and that way, to Kanu's innocent, untainted…fragile mind, he slept with her mother instead of with her."

"I'll kill him," Naruto growled out, rage beginning to peak from within him, "When I see him next, he's a dead man."

"That would do more harm than good, right now, Naru-kun," Kushina responded patiently, "If you kill Minato for this, Kyoko will make sure you take the blame, whether you actually do it or not. You know how she is – you're the ultimate scapegoat to her, just like you were to our father before you left. And then you'll have every ninja on Konoha gunning for you."

"I can keep myself hidden well enough…" Naruto began, before being interrupted by Kushina once more.

"Be that as it may, what do you think having so many people after your head will do to Kanu? What do you think it will do to Kaa-san? Granted, Kaa-san will be able to handle it, but do you really want to put her through that while she had to be around them all day after day? Does he deserve it for what he did to Kanu? Absolutely, yes! But now isn't the time for your anger, Naru-kun. Now is the time for your restraint…at least until you can show Kaa-san the truth and get her out of there."

Naruto closed his eyes as he took a deep breath through clenched teeth, and letting it out slowly, "I know…and you're right…Kushina. Do you mind if I call you Kushina?"

The girl straddling his lap smiled affectionately, "Not at all. I'm not _your_ mother, Naru-kun. I'm only a manifestation of Kanu's need for a mother while she had to suffer alone."

"So…does Kanu know about you?" he asked curiously.

"She does. She didn't really know who or what I was at first, but thanks to the magnificent intellect that our parents both bestowed upon us, she was able to piece together what I was. We can even talk to each other, and believe it or not, we have a very good relationship," she informed him while chuckling somewhat sheepishly.

Naruto chuckled in response, "Wow…isn't that something? How did you convince her you're not the Kyuubi?"

"Oh, I showed up in her mindscape and talked to her in front of the Kyuubi. She wasn't convinced at first, but when she saw Kyuubi and me arguing with each other, and even cutting off each other's sentences…well, she decided that I either had to be someone else, or the Kyuubi was insane on a superhuman level."

"I see," Naruto responded, deep in thought, "Well, knowing what I now know…there's no way I can send Kanu away from me in good conscience," after a few moments' pause, he continued, "I'll figure something out. For now, though…you should sleep. Tomorrow's going to be busy."

He tried to get up to leave, but Kushina wouldn't let him up. She turned her face to him and kissed him smack on the lips for several seconds. Naruto just sat there in stunned silence…which became even more pronounced when Kushina slipped her tongue into his mouth for several seconds, snaking it around his own and exploring his oral cavity.

After pulling away, she looked him in the eye with an uncertain expression, "Naru-kun, please…sleep in the same bed as Kanu, tonight. You're the only man alive whose touch is pleasant or welcome to her, and given what she's had to relive and have exposed tonight, she'll need you…more than she ever has. It'll help her immensely to wake up in your arms. Please…" she kissed him once more, "…take care of us. Love us. Me and my little girl…" she finished her plea with tears as her own voice began to break.

Naruto, seeing the state she was in, closed his eyes and nodded. He laid her down and made her comfortable first before getting into bed, pulling her into his arms as they both drifted off to sleep, Naruto somehow knowing full well that Kanu would be the one who'd wake up next to him in the morning.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto yawned as he walked downstairs with Kanu holding onto his arm cheerfully, like he expected, she did wake him up by doing whatever she was doing and giggling, of which the latter woke him up. "Ne, Onii-chan... who are the people with you?" asked Kanu curiously, he told her not to do anything to them but she didn't know who they were, only that they were friends of her brother.

They walked downstairs and saw that everyone else was up already, "The two wearing the same uniform as myself are Blades, they are part of assault squads and they maintain security within my organization, the Black Shields." explained Naruto as they walked over and took a seat at the table in the middle of the room, "Yuria, the one who is cooking and who sent you to the room is an Enforcer. Enforcer's are the elite within the Black Shields. They do any mission that requires the best of skills. They also only take orders from me, no one else can give them an order."

"So she's very important," said Kanu looking at the woman who put her in time-out last night, she didn't look very special, let alone the _elite_ of anything.

Naruto chuckled and replied, "Yes, she is. She's my closest friend and my personal bodyguard. She is also the only person except for me that the Enforcer's will listen to."

"Are we leaving after breakfast, commander?" asked one of the guards curiously, wondering what their next plans would be.

Naruto frowned and answered, "Yes, we will be leaving. Tazuna-san is... dead and our reason for coming here is gone as well. I would also like to be gone when Konoha sends a squad to investigate Kanu's squad, I'd rather not have to deal with them so soon after the incident in Hi no Kuni's capital."

They remained silent as Yuria brought over breakfast which if he guessed correctly was porridge of some kind, _'I prefer soup over that stuff,'_ thought Naruto as she purposely didn't put a bowl in front of him.

"Aren't you eating, Onii-chan?" asked Kanu seeing that Yuria missed him and shot her a dark glare for skipping him.

Naruto shook his head and answered, "I don't like porridge and don't be mean to Yuria, she knows I won't eat it, so there's no point in giving it to me." He looked over at the quiet, solemn Tsunami sitting across from him and asked, "Doing any better this morning, Tsunami-san?"

"A little," Tsunami answered quietly, she looked up at him, "Thank you for asking, Naruto-san. I imagine you're intending to leave soon, so I'll go give my farewells... to my father... and son." Naruto nodded as she stood up and made her way outside.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

A/N: No idea what to add here, but... hope you enjoyed the chapter. Oh right, just remembered. If anyone knows of any decent artist that takes requests, could you tell me?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I could go on to a long explanation of things and take half a page to do it... but I won't.

The short version: I screwed-up in regards to certain areas. (Mostly I forgot about them.) But we will be fixing them in this chapter.

As you might have noticed in the summary (which I changed), Naruto left Konoha at 12, not 8. So yes, his age got a small boost... because I wasn't thinking right at the time. (Summaries aren't my specialty) So Naruto's age at the moment is 17 for those who are curious.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto stood outside standing behind Tsunami as she said her farewells, he came out a few minutes after she did, so he could watch over her in case anyone who had been in Gatou's employ decided for revenge of some sort and so the young woman didn't do anything rash.

He watching quietly for a few minutes then Tsunami walked over to him, "I'm ready to go now... thank you," she said softly before starting to head inside the house to finish with what she wanted to bring.

"Then we shall leave," said Naruto to himself as he activated the small radio on the collar of his jacket, "I want pick-up in five minutes," he ordered calmly as he watched the wilderness, enjoying it a little.

XxxxxX

Naruto watched as the dropship to pick them up landed in the small clearing in front of the house, the others in the house came out hearing the noise it was making, "What is that?!" shouted Kanu pointing at it as the ramp lowered and four armored and armed soldiers left the dropship and kept a close watch on the surroundings.

"That's a secret," said Naruto smiling at her, "Come along now Kanu, Tsunami-san." he added before he walked toward the dropship and boarded it, the two following close behind him. Once they got inside the dropship, Naruto helped get them situated in it as Yuria and his guards got in, then after them, the four soldiers.

"We're good to go," stated one of the soldiers before hitting the wall, letting the pilot know to close the ramp and take off.

"Taking off," replied the pilot hitting the switch to close lift the ramp up and close the back.

"Onii-chan, what is this and where are we going?" asked Kanu looking around at the odd things around them.

"This is a Dropship, Kanu," answered Naruto deciding it was safe to talk about it since no one could eavesdrop on them, "There has only been two successful attempts at flight in the world, the first is Soragakure, but they died off in the last shinobi war. The second is us. The large crystals you saw surrounded by the metal bands exert a force that pushes them away from anything below them, we have some mastery over how they work and can control them to some extent."

"Who are these soldiers?" she asked looking at the silent armored soldiers sitting silently at the ramp door.

"Blades," answered Naruto simply, "I should also add that the majority of the Black Shields are women, the amount of men in the organization pale in comparison, so you shouldn't feel too uncomfortable, Tsunami-san, Kanu-chan."

Kanu raised an eyebrow as she thought on a few things then asked, "So the women treat men like trash?" her questions made the Blades break out in laughter, the two male guards laughed a little and Yuria smiled.

"No," answered Naruto wondering how she got to that thought, "While women consist about... ninety-percent of the Black Shields, they don't treat the men horribly. The evaluation test to join our organizations are... extreme, most men aren't cunning enough to pass. Women are a bit more mature, so they understand the test better and before you ask, the cut-off rate for the test is ninety-percent. We only accept the best, I'll tolerate nothing less than the best."

"So you're saying... men are dumber than women?" questioned Kanu causing everyone to laugh again while Naruto sighed.

Naruto shook his head and replied, "In certain areas, yes, but the same can be said for women. We all have our dumb moments, some just last longer than others. Now is our entire ride going to be answering questions, Kanu?"

"Yep," stated Kanu smiling happily at him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The dropship finally reached their main headquarters, though it only took twenty minutes, it felt like hours with Kanu's constant questions.

"I don't know what I've been told," shouted a man outside the dropship as the ramp was being lowered, though a bunch of footsteps were heard along with his voice.

"I don't know what I've been told," shouted a group of voices after the first voice. Naruto and the others stepped out of the dropship and saw a group of soldiers jogging around with a superior officer supervising them.

"Enforcer's got a Info Node," stated the officer as they continued jogging around the base, the other soldiers following him repeated the same sentence.

"Yuria likes to flip the on off switch," shouted the officer, the other soldier's repeating his words causing Naruto chuckle while Yuria was lowering her head in shame.

"Dig that crazy Enforcer witch," continued the officer and again the soldier's repeated his words loudly, "Blades barracks, march!"

"Yes sir!" shouted the soldier's before the entire phrase was being repeated again.

Naruto couldn't hold it in and started laughing, "Hahaha, T-they still use that for training," said Naruto in between his laughter.

"Who were they?" asked Kanu curiously, "And what was the song about?"

Naruto took a minute to calm down and answered, "Blades barracks, as you heard their commanding officer shout out. They're starting their afternoon training. The _song_ as it were, is a marching song, it keeps their minds off being tired... and an Info node is something that all the soldier's get their mission's from. They weren't working correctly one day and Yuria tried fixing them... but only made them flicker on and off. They use that particularly marching song when she isn't here cause it embarrasses her. Now let's get you two settled in before I have to meet up with my council."

"Hai, Onii-chan," said Kanu happily then clung onto him before they started walking.

"Excuse me, Naruto-san... but what does that say?" asked Tsunami as they walked past a monolith of stone in front of the entrance to the main base.

Naruto looked at it and read the words out loud, "Beware of he, who would deny you access to information for in his heart, he dreams himself your master." he paused for a minute before looking at her and said, "In the West Continent, libraries as well as other buildings that contained information were burned to the ground and the governments there controlled any information and thus, the people were subject to believing whatever their government told them. The quote is for us, the Black Shields to never forget that information must be shared freely, the good as well as the bad."

"For an example, Tsunami-san. Many governments, countries, hidden villages keep any and all reports, even the most useless, classified in some way. Here in our Headquarters, if you ask for a report on a specific operation or if you have a basic idea of the report you'd like, one of the librarians will find and get it for you. You could even review the Black Shields financial reports, if you like," stated Yuria giving the young woman a few examples in how to take the quote, "The only things we keep hidden are missions that our soldiers are on. Those reports are accessible after the mission is complete."

"Wouldn't you have a lot of trouble if the wrong things got out?" questioned Kanu knowing Konoha had a lot of secrets that would probably end the village if they ever got out.

Naruto chuckled and replied, "We're not noble knights, nor are we ruthless murderer's Kanu. Our work is multi-purpose. I'll explain it further, but I have a meeting I need to get to, so please save your questions until I come to find you again."

"Naruto-sama, welcome back," said a young woman sitting behind a desk, happy to see him "Do you need something?"

"Two rooms. One for Uzumaki Kanu and another for..." Naruto trailed off not knowing Tsunami's family name.

"Just Tsunami," said the dark haired woman seeing him stumped.

"...Okay, and Tsunami," stated Naruto shrugging and going with what she wanted.

The woman behind the desk worked quietly for a few minutes then said, "Alright... I'll need their one-year license."

"They don't have one. Kanu is my sister and Tsunami is under my direct care, you can overlook it," stated Naruto as he felt Kanu hold his hand, afraid for some reason.

The woman shrugged and replied, "Alright, finished. Kanu-san and Tsunami-san will be housed in Sector 4. They'll still need to get the routine medical check-up and I have alerted the council for your decision on allowing them in HQ without a license."

Naruto nodded as he took the two keys she had set on the desk, then handed one to Kanu and the other to Tsunami, "Yuria will show you to your rooms as well as the infirmary. However, I want Kanu's check-up to wait until I get there, Yuria. I think she would be calmer if I was there and I need to discuss things with the doctors there."

"Got it," said Yuria understanding, "Let's go you two, I'll give you a tour while I'm at it," she added before dragging them away.

Naruto looked at his two guards, they saluted him before turning on their heels and going their own way, having been dismissed and he went to council room to summon them.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto sat in his seat, he got comfortable before he pressed a button in his chair to summon the other council members, he waited for several minutes as each person made their way into the room and into their chairs.

Once everyone except Yuria had arrived, he decided to start this meeting, "Well Tazuna-san is dead, we need to find another person who is experienced building around water. Also, I have removed Gatou and his Corporation. I want a company of Blades to secure his base in Nami no Kuni, but be warned, there's several dozen women there, armed and more than willing to kill to remain free. Reisa, remind the squads you send to... play nice. I already dealt with the poorly trained mercenaries inside. For the women, we'll be escorting them to their homes, if one still remains or where ever they would like to live, some might join us as well."

"You know, doing all the work yourself is fine, but the blades and I would appreciate it, if you left us something to do beyond guard duty and policing," stated Reila as she wrote down what she needed to do after the meeting.

"It seems you have allowed two people without one-year licenses in HQ... could you explain, Commander?" asked Kagiri, she was the leader of the Shadows, the spies and diplomat's of the Black Shields. With that said, she was also quite paranoid and he guessed this set off an alarm in her mind.

Naruto cleared his throat and answered, "Tsunami is the daughter of Tazuna. Her father died as well as her son, I have taken her under my direct care. I will take responsibility for any of her actions. The other person is Uzumaki Kanu, my Imouto. That said, Mir, Miu, I would like both of you to help give her a check-up and see if there is a way to hide the half of the Kyubi's chakra she has. I don't want make finding Kanu easy for Konoha."

"Sure," said both women in unison, which wasn't as strange as when he first talked to them, for twins, speaking in unison or finishing each others sentence's was becoming less and less weird to him.

"I have information that my Shadows gathered from around the Elemental Nations," said Kagiri before sending the information she had to each council member's chair to which they all started to read it while she continued, "Kirigakure is in a civil war. Normal people against Kekkai Genkai clans... and the clans are losing, surprisingly. The current Mizukage is a nutcase and completely paranoid, worse than myself."

"Looks like hell, but we can't simply intervene on our own," stated Naruto seriously, "Send one of your Shadows to the leader of the Kekkai Genkai side of the civil war. We'll see if they agree to anything."

"Yes, Commander," replied Kagiri nodding and already sent on the Shadow's that followed her, to the task, "The next thing, is an organization called Akatsuki," she added frowning, "It is a group of extremely skilled ninja... S-rank is we use the standards of hidden villages. B-Class if we use our standards, though one of them is highly skilled in stealth, I lost five Shadows during the investigation." Everyone in room looked at her, surprised, as her Shadows were nearly undetectable. Hell, Naruto learned how to be silent and hidden from her, like the Shadows were, it was frightening to know someone had to skills to spot a Shadow, much less five of them.

"And their goals?" asked Naruto as the part in the report was left blank.

"World peace," answered Kagiri seriously, causing Naruto to raise in eyebrow out of curiosity, "Though I use that term very loosely. They desire to capture all of the nine biju in these lands then use their combined power to subjugate everyone... or at least that is what I can piece together. I am unsure of what they truly intend to do if they capture all of the biju, but I doubt it will be a good thing from what I gathered from the information, the hosts of the biju die when the biju is extracted from them."

Naruto frowned, he disliked this group already, then again he disliked most ninja with little exception, "So they kill Jinchuuriki to obtain Biju and intend to enact some plan to force peace amongst the Elemental Nations," he said before sighing, "In light of the current situation, I conclude that the Akatsuki organization is threatening mankind. They will be our enemy henceforth, kill any of them on sight without question."

"Yes, Commander," said both Reila and Kagiri understanding his order completely and agreeing with it.

"I think we're done here for now. Mir, Miu, let me introduce you to my little sister," stated Naruto as he stood up and left the room, the twins following behind him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Several Hours later

- Nami no Kuni -

XxxxxX

"There's a barricade up ahead," stated Kakashi spotting badly finished bridge, most of it was stone but the part closer to their side of land was entirely metal and looked constructed in haste, there was a firm barricade blocking access onto the bridge with several oddly armed and armored soldiers keeping vigil over it.

"Halt!" came a loud voice from the barricade, Kakashi and his genin stopped, "We'll eliminate all intruders by force," continued the person who ordered them to stop. The soldiers who were just seconds ago in a lax stance were pointing their weapons at him and his squad, ready to attack and possibly kill them.

"They're in our way, so we'll go through them," stated Kyoko as a reddish cloak enveloped her and she charged the barricade.

"This isn't going to end well," said Kakashi knowing how her stubbornness made a lot of trouble, the one incident with Iwa was still fresh in his memory... as well as the memory of every Iwa and Konoha citizen who heard or saw it. He's still surprised there wasn't a war started over it.

"Fire!" ordered the leader of the group of soldiers guarding the barricade then the soldiers around them started shooting thin-like objects from their weapons, that were mostly hitting the Kyubi's cloak around Kyoko and melting and the rare one or two scratching her, able to get through the cloak.

"...Time for damage control... Sasuke, Sakura, remember Iwagakure?" he asked looking over at them, they cringed and nodded, "This is going be a lot worse..." he added before they slowly raised their hands up in surrender since he was _really_ going to have to talk to these people about his... aggressive genin and it wasn't going to be a very enjoyable conversation from the looks of it.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Barricade 3 has been breached!" reported one of the soldiers monitoring the brief defense lines that they erected around Nami no Kuni.

"Who's attacking and how many?" asked the Enforcer in charge, looking at the young woman who spoke.

"Well... uh... just one, a girl," answered the soldier as she pulled it up on a large screen from a camera feed causing the Enforcer to look at it in surprise and the others, in awe, as one girl was plowing through another barricade shaking off what usually killed people in a few seconds.

"Send in a Dropship with a sniper unit," ordered the Enforcer quickly snapping out of her stupor, "Take her out! Activate the anti-chakra net around the island, if she does breach the entire defense line I don't want her causing destruction!"

"Yes ma'am," replied everyone in the room before sending out the orders she gave.

The Enforcer watched via the long set of camera's they set up to watch every inch of the bridge as the girl, more or less ignored the crystal rounds being fired at her and the sniper unit in the dropship which arrived almost immediately after the order was sent out was putting more holes in the bridge than anything else.

She covered her eyes as the girl burst through another barricade, this time an explosion went off as she did, "Platoon 4 has been completely wiped out! Gate 2 has been breached!" reported one of the soldier's not seeing any signs of life from the soldiers at the second barricade.

"Just how lucky can this girl be," muttered the Enforcer glaring daggers at the screen, "I'll bring her down," she added before leaving the room to deal with this little menace, herself.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Hah, that wasn't so-" Kyoko was cut off as something slammed into her.

"You're trespassing in Black Shield Territory. Surrender immediately or be crushed into dust," stated a feminine voice coming from a person in black armor of some kind. The person held no weapon, but did have weapons on themselves.

Kyoko looked around and saw dozens of others positioning their weapons and pointing them in her direction, "You think you ca-" Kyoko never finished her sentence as the armored woman punched her in the face without warning, knocking her unconscious.

"Why yes, I think I can beat you," teased the woman smugly over the unconscious Kyoko, "I did warn you..." she added before turning to the soldiers, "Lock her up, maximum prison cell. Same with the others at barricade 3."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

A/N: That was fun. I did not intend to bring Kyoko out of the woodwork's yet... but a spurt of inspiration came forth and... I couldn't think of anyone stupid enough to charge headfirst at well-defended positions that isn't a jinchuuriki.

I'm on a roll lately, aren't I? I suppose popping out chapters lately is making up for the times I didn't post any up.


End file.
